Udlændinge- og Integrationsudvalget 2017-18
UUI Alm.del Bilag 26
Offentligt
1816670_0001.png
Ref. Ares(2017)5159355 - 23/10/2017
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL MIGRATION and HOME AFFAIRS
The Director-General
Brussels, 23 October 2017
H.E. Mr. Kim JØRGENSEN
Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representation of
Denmark to the European Union
Rue d'Arlon 73,
1040 Brussels,
Belgium
Your Excellency,
I am contacting you following your letter of 11 October 2017 in which you inform the
Commission about your decision to carry out internal border controls for 6 months
beyond 11 November 2017 at the land border with Germany.
As you know on 19 October the European Council reiterated its commitment to the
Schengen system and expressed the intention to get "Back to Schengen" as soon as
possible while taking proportionate security interests of Member States fully into
account. While it is clear under the current rules Member States may have proportionate
security interests justifying internal border controls, it is also clear that any such
decisions must come as a last resort measure, applied only as long as necessary and
justified. Any temporary border controls should therefore be carried out in a
proportionate manner and sensitive to impacts on neighbouring Member States.
It was with a view to assist Member States in the implementation of these rules that on
12 May and 3 October the Commission presented recommendations on respectively,
proportionate police checks and police cooperation in the Schengen area
1
and
on the
implementation of the provisions of the Schengen Borders Code on temporary
reintroduction of border controls at internal borders in the Schengen area
2
.
In line with Article 27(1) of the Schengen Borders Code and two Commission
Recommendations of 12 May and 3 October I would like to request several clarifications
to assess in detail your notification of 11 October.
According to your notification the planned decision on temporary border controls at the
internal border concerned is linked to the risk of exploiting by the terrorists alleged
deficiencies in border controls and perpetuating the terrorist attacks as prepared in one
Member State on the soil of another Member State. You are also referring to the irregular
1
2
C(2017) 3349
C(2017) 6560
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
UUI, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 26: Orientering af brev til generaldirektør Matthias Reute, Europa-Kommissionen vedr. DK's opretholdelse af grænsekontrollen, fra udlændinge- og integrationsministeren
1816670_0002.png
secondary movements which are facilitated by the alleged structural deficiencies at the
EU external borders as well as that the Dublin regulation is still not applied by all
Member States.
I would like to invite you to confirm that you have made the necessary assessment in line
with Articles 25, 26 and 27 of the Schengen Borders Code, which demonstrates that the
degree of secondary movements into Denmark currently experienced constitutes a
serious threat to public policy or internal security. I would like to also invite you to
confirm that according to your assessment, intensified police checks in the border areas
as an alternative measure to the intended border controls were not sufficient to address
the identified threats.
I would like to invite you to elaborate more on the specific measures you intend to take in
order to ensure the right balance between the need to protect public policy or internal
security and the benefits of the area without controls at internal borders. In particular, I
would appreciate very much that your share the outcome of your assessment of the
impact of the announced border controls on free movement of persons and the internal
market. I would also like to ask for any further clarifications demonstrating that the
intended border control would be in place only as long as necessary and would be
adjusted to what is strictly necessary to address the identified threat.
I would like to also ask you for more information concerning the ongoing or held
consultations with Germany as the Member State to be affected the most by the
announced border controls, and explaining how this cooperation will be continued in the
next six months so as to reflect the evolving needs and impact on the ground.
I would be also grateful for clarifying if the announced border controls will concern only
the land border with Germany or also the ferry connections.
Yours faithfully,
Matthias RUETE
2
Electronically signed on 23/10/2017 12:32 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563